Display Your Data With Charts

There are many different ways to display data that is found for your business. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to display data is through charts. Charts give a great visual representation of what has been found. Not everyone is going to be able to decipher what a data scientist has found. Charts are a universal tool to get everyone on the same page. Everyone can pretty much understand how to read a line graph or a pie chart. So do you want to display your data with charts? Here are some of the most popular charts and graphs used for displaying data.

Line Graph

The line graph (or line chart) is represented by a series of data points that are connected by a line. This graph is ideal for wanting to visualize data from over time. The peaks and valleys that are formed by connecting your data points can really give insight to answers your business may be looking for. It can tell you when something was or wasn’t working. If you’re measuring the amount of views you get on your website and the line graph shows there was a sudden boost in July, you can think back and remember you ran an ad campaign that apparently drove a lot of traffic to your site. Literally see the success (or failure) of data you’re business is researching through a line graph.

Column and Bar Graph

Both of these graphs are essentially the same and can be utilized the same way. A column graph displays data as vertical bars and a bar graph is the same data, just interchanging the X and Y axis so the bars are running horizontally. These graphs are great for measuring numbers. Typically, you would put on your X axis the categories of what you’re wanting to measure. For example: if you’re a clothing company and you’re trying to visualize what clothing items sell the most, you put things like “jeans, blouses, shoes, t-shirts, etc.” on your X axis. All their values would equal zero. Your Y axis would show your values, or numbers if you will. You will quickly be able to see which clothing item sells the most in the store just by looking at which bar is the tallest or longest.

Pie Chart

This is a circular chart that is divided into segments that are proportional to the quantity it represents. It’s a great way for a business owner to gain knowledge on percentages for their business. It will give you a good visualization of what precent of people are engaging with what. For example, let’s say your a successful donut shop owner in your town. You have opened three different franchises in your city and even have a stand in the mall. You want to know which franchise is most successful. You might choose to represent your findings in the pie chart. The pie chart would maybe show 45% of customers are coming from the southside location while only 10% are visiting your stand at the mall. You would be able to gain the information your are seeking just by looking at the size of each “slice” of the pie chart.

Use Charts to Display Your Data!

Stop relying on your data scientist to relay information to your leadership team. Your data scientist has already done their part in finding the research, now display the findings in a graph or chart! Your colleagues will thank you for it and you will be able to visualize the data you need to know to make your business grow!